In Togo, police assault journalists, confiscate equipment

April 30, 2012 4:06 PM ET

New York, April 30, 2012--Togolese police attacked and
confiscated the equipment of two journalists filming an anti-government march
in the capital, Lomé, on Friday.
Civil society activists and human rights advocates had gathered
for the demonstration on the occasion
of Togo's 52nd Independence Day, local journalists said.

More than 10 police officers assaulted Noël
Kokou Tadegnon, a freelance journalist for Reuters TV, the London-based
pan-African satellite broadcaster Vox Africa, and the German-government funded
broadcaster Deutsche Welle, as he
filmed security forces firing tear gas at protesters, news reports said.
Tadegnon told CPJ a police officer shouted at him to stop filming and then ordered
other officers to "deal" with him. Tadegnon told CPJ he was struck in the back
of the head and when he awakened, his camera was gone. The journalist sought
treatment at a local hospital for swelling, he said.

Another journalist,
Didier Alli, a reporter for the local TV station TV7, told CPJ that as he tried
to intervene in the assault on Tadegnon, police officers seized his camera. "I was
telling them to leave him, that he is a journalist. But instead they descended
on me...and forcefully seized my camera," Alli said.

Togolese Minister of
Security Col. Gnama Latta told CPJ that he was aware of the assaults on the
journalists and would disclose any disciplinary action if the officers were
found guilty of wrongdoing. The minister also said that the journalists'
cameras would be returned to them, but both journalists told CPJ today that
they had not received them. CPJ was unable to reach Latta for comment today.

"Togolese police may
not like reporters documenting their public activities, but officers are
accountable for their actions and should not be allowed to silence news
coverage by assault or other heavy-handed tactics," said CPJ Africa Advocacy
Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on the security minister to send a clear
message that police are not above the law by ensuring the officers responsible
for these assaults are held accountable and that all seized equipment is
returned immediately."

In Togo, police attack journalists protesting media law

March 18, 2013 3:35 PM ET

Lagos, Nigeria, March 18, 2013--Togolese police on Thursday fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse journalists protesting new censorship authority granted to the government media regulator, according to news reports and local journalists....